Popping
THE QUESTION
■ From planning the wedding
to buying the ring, already busy
students face engaging challenges
By Lisa Toth
Oregon Daily Emerald
T X igh school sweethearts aren’t just a
myth. The spark that lights up be
J_ JL tween the eyes of junior Jenny Brog
don and her future husband, senior Amos
Callender, has the mark of true love.
“I know he’s the one for me because
each day I look into his eyes and know I
am the luckiest person on earth,” Brogdon
said.” Amos is so wonderful and support
ive that I couldn’t ask for anything more.
He is truly special.”
But for this engaged college couple
and many others, they discover not only
the joys, but the challenges of sharing
their lives.
Brogdon, 20, a track and field athlete and
member of the Geography Honor Society,
said she enjoys sharing the good news with
friends, but making all the wedding arrange
ments while still in school is a burden.
They set a June 28, 2003, date, but
Brogdon said she and Callender can’t do
much planning until this summer, except
for reserving the reception site and choos
ing a caterer.
“But once next year comes around, it will
be crazy trying to get all the little things or
ganized while still being involved in school
and track,” she said.
They had always talked about getting
married one day, Brogdon said, but she did
n’t know Callender would pop the question
during Christmas break.
“Amos has never been skiing before, so
for a Christmas present I took him to the
slopes close to our hometown (La
Grande),” she said.” Afterwards, we went
back to his house and watched movies
with his family. Later that evening, we
were talking about our future, and when
we stood up to hug, he got on his knee and
asked me to marry him.”
cut croagon said sne couidn t remem
ber how she met 22-year-old Callender,
since they had both lived in La Grande all
their lives. .
“But, I think my freshman year of high
school, I got to know him as a friend
through sports,” she said.
Brogdon said neither she nor Callender
had ever had a romantic relationship before
they met each other.
“It is kind of a fairy tale, because we are
each other's first love,” she said.
They will have been dating for four years
in March, growing close to each other dur
ing that time, and Brogdon said they just
seem to be the perfect fit.
“Our personalities mesh well with each
other; he’s a quiet, soft-spoken type, and I’m
talkative and outgoing,” she said.
Balancing a relationship with track,
school, work and other responsibilities,
however, is far from easy.
“I have maxed out my commitment
wheel, since I carry a 17-credit load, spend
about 18 hours a week at practice, go to
track meets many weekends and have a
wonderful job,” Brodgon said. “.But
there’s always the evening to spend with
Amos, and since the architecture program
keeps him busy in studio most of the time, I
go visit him after dinner and squeeze in
what little time there is in between activities
to see him and my other friends.”
Brogdon said by the time they finish school,
supporting each other financially shouldn’t be
a problem, and they will enter die job market
making money to help pay off loans.
Brogdon said all of her friends and
family support the couple’s decision to
become engaged.
For 19-year-old sophomore Josh Rapp, the
big night came in August after he and his
girlfriend, sophomore Naomi Weiss, 20, had
just finished a road trip together to see one
of their favorite bands play at the Gorge Am
phitheater in Washington.
“Since we both live in Medford, we
stayed the night at the Hilton here in town,”
Rapp said. “That night we went for a walk,
Courtesy photo
Amos Callender (left) proposed to his girlfriend,
Jenny Brogdon, during a Christmas ski trip.
got some coffee and laid a blanket on the
grass on campus. We talked for a while. The
whole time I was fiddling with the ring in
my pocket, and finally I got the guts to ask
her to stand up. Trembling like crazy, I got
down on one knee and said the words. We
were both so excited.
“I don’t think she was very surprised, but
excited nonetheless,” he said.
Rapp said he and Weiss have set a July 7
date.
Rapp, who is in the Army ROTC and in
tramural basketball, said there are many
perks to their engagement.
“It’s great to get an early start on our life
together,” he said. “Plus, sharing the cost
of living for the last two years of college is
a bonus.”
The couple has had some help in plan
ning the wedding.
“Naomi’s mom has done the majority of
the planning, so that takes a lot off of us,” he
said.” We make the final decisions, but she
tells us our options.”
Weiss met Rapp because they both went
to the same junior high and high school.
But Rapp said they didn’t really meet un
til they came to the University and got to
know each other through a mutual friend.
“We are probably the most compatible
couple I have ever seen, and not because I'm
biased,” Rapp said. “Our personalities fit to
gether so great, and we just always love to
be with each other — always.”
Rapp said once they are married, they
should be able to sufficiently support each
other, and he has plans to become an army
officer after graduation. Rapp said they help
each other through the good moments as
well as the rougher ones.
“The times that stick out in my mind are
the times when we have been sick,” he said.
“Whenever one of is sick, we really show
each other how much we care ... by doing
anything to help. We both go all out to make
each other feel better.”
Richard Skeie, owner of Skeie’s Jewelers,
said that every day college-age couples
come into his store to look at engagement
rings. .Skeie’s Jewelers has been in operation
since 1922 and offers fine-cut diamonds.
Skeie, who has more than 20 years of expe
rience in the business, said a growing trend
in the last five or six years has been the pop
ular carat diamond. He said one of the bene
fits of visiting a professional jewelry store is
that sometimes “people will come in with
an idea that doesn’t work, and we can help
them avoid those mistakes.”
Skeie said no matter what a couple may
be looking for, his business tries to accom
modate their needs. He said couples are
willing to spend anywhere from $800 to
about $5,000 on rings.
“It depends on how important it is to
them. Sometimes they just want plain gold
bands,” he said. “It is important to me that
they get what they want.”
E-mail Pulse/features editor Lisa Toth at
lisatoth@dailyemerald.com.
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